Kite string winder



March l, 1960 G. K. KUEHN f KITE STRING wINDER Filed Jan. 14, 1959 United StatCS Patent Y KITE STRING WINDER Gordon K. Kuehn, Mount Rainier, Md.

Application January 14, 1959, Serial No. 7 86,7 93

1 Claim. (Cl. 242-96) This invention relates broadly to winding and reeling and more specifically to a kite string Winder for ying kites.

'I'he invention is characterized by its simplicity of construction and its utility not only as a Winder or reel for kite strings, but also as a reel for fishing lines, Vtine wire or other uses wherein it is desired to wind or unwind string, wire, rope or other material on a reel or spool. The spring, wire, rope or other material may be stored on this kite string Winder. One object of the invention is to provide a kite string Winder which is easy to make and to use.

Other important objects and advantages of the invention will best be understood from the following detailed description, constituting a specification of the same, when considered in conjunction with the annexed drawings, wherein:

Fig, 1 is a perspective view of the kite string Winder.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the reel comprising the grooved blocks forming the rotor, and the manner in which the paddles are nailed to the rotor.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

The material used is preferably wood because this is readily obtainable and easily worked. However, other materials may be used such as plastic or hard rubber.

The rotor comprises two rectangular blocks 1 and 2. Each block is grooved as shown at 19 in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The groove in one of the blocks is deep enough to receive the crimp 8 of the shaft 9 and one half the thickness of the shaft, and the groove in the other block is just deep enough to receive one-half the thickness of the shaft 9. When the blocks are assembled it will form a rotor which is square in cross-section. Each of the paddles 3, 4, 5 and 6 is formed with a groove or cut-out portion 7 as shown in Fig. 1. These grooves in the paddles are to receive the string or wire to be wound on the reel. All of the paddles 3, 4, 5 and 6 are of the same size and shape. One of the paddles is notched as shown at 21 in Fig. 1 to receive the knotted end of the cord. The shaft 9 is crimped as shown at 8 in Fig. 3

' of the drawing, and this crimp 8 fits into the groove of one of the blocks.

In assembling the device the two blocks 1 and 2 are irst placed together with the shaft in the grooves 19 and the crimp 8 in the deep groove. When the blocks are in this position the grooves will be opposed to each other so as to form an opening through the two blocks with the crimped shaft in the opening. While the blocks 1 and 2 and the shaft 9 are in this position the paddle 4 is nailed to the blocks, as shown in Fig. 2, thus securing the two blocks 1 and 2, the paddle 4, and the crimped shaft 9 altogether in one operation. The nails 11, 12 and 13 which secure the paddle 4, the two blocks 1 and 2, and the crimped shaft 9 together, are staggered as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. In other words, the nail 12 is one one side of the center line and the nails 11 and 13 are on the other side of the center line of the two blocks. In the same manner the paddles 3, 5 and 6 are ICC nailed to the blocks 1 and 2. Note that the nails 11, 12 and 13, securing the paddles 3, 5 and 6 to the blocks 1 and 2 are also in staggered relationship as shown Vin Eig. l. This completes the reel.

The frame or holder for the reel comprises the top and bottom pieces 15 and 16, and the side pieces 17 and 18. First, the two side pieces 17 and 18 are drilled in the centers thereof to receive the ends of the shaft 9. Then the reel is placed in the two side pieces 17 and 18 by inserting the ends of the shaft 9 in the drilled holes of the side pieces 17 and 18. The top piece 15 is then secured to the side pieces 17 and 18 by means of the nails 22, 23, 24 and 25 as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. In the same manner the bottom piece 16 is nailed to the side pieces 17 and 18.

The tina] operation is to bend part of the end of the shaft 9 to form the handle 10. This completes the kite string Winder.

In using the kite string Winder a knot is tied near the end of the string so as to hold the end of the string in the notch 21 of the paddle 4. The string or cord is then wound in the grooves 7 of the paddles by means of the handle 10. It will be noted that the blocks or rotor extend beyond the edges of the paddles as shown at 20 and 26 in Fig. l of the drawing. These extensions serve two purposes. One, they serve as collars or spacers to prevent the paddles from binding against the sides of the frame and two, since they are square in cross-section, they may be used as brakes with the thumbs in letting out the string. Of course, it will be necessary to make these extensions long enough so that the thumbs may lit comfortably between the paddles and sides of the frame. In case the pull on the cord becomes so great that it cannot be controlled by the handle 10 or the brakes 20 and 26, the paddles may be used to hold the cord.

The size of the grooves 7 should be large enough to accommodate suflicient string for the purpose for which the device is used.

The width of the side pieces 17 and 18 of the frame should not be much wider than the dimensional crosssection of the blocks 1 and 2 assembled.

Due to the simplicity of construction any boy old enough to ily a kite can make the kite string Winder. Very few parts are involved and, since most of the parts are made of wood which can be easily worked, there should be no diiculty in the construction.

Having thus clearly shown and described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired. to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A kite string Winder comprising a rotor formed of two wooden blocks, square in cross-section when assembled, longitudinal grooves in said blocks, a crimped shaft in said grooves, one of said grooves being only deep enough to receive the crimp of the shaft and one-half the thickness of the shaft, and the other groove being only deep enough to receive one-half the thickness of the shaft, the ends of said shaft projecting beyond the ends of said rotor, a pair of grooved Wooden paddles extending in opposite directions on the top and bottom faces of said rotor with the edges of said paddles opposite the grooves of said paddles being ush with the opposite faces of said rotor, nails passing through said paddles and said blocks for securing said paddles, said blocks and said crimped shaft together in one operation, said nails being in staggered relationship along theV widths of the paddles and length of said blocks, a second pair of grooved wooden paddles, extending in opposite directions, secured to the other two opposed faces of said rotor with the edges of said second-mentioned pair of paddles opposite the grooves thereof abutting the faces of said firstmentioned pair of paddles, a notch in the bottom of the groove of one of the paddles to receive the knotted end Patented Mar. l, 1960' *fi'a'cord to Ybe-Wouildain the grooveso'f said paddles,

nails passing through said second-mentioned pair of paddles and said blocks, a frame consisting of two side pieces with aligned holes therein for said ends of said shaft," top-and ,bottomr pieces, nails securing-thetop and 5 bottom jpieces to the sideframelpieces, said side`frarne pieeeszbeing of a'width corresponding to the'thickness 109,318 of said rotor, the ends of said shaft passing through 1,467,523 saidva'ligned holes, a handle Vmade integral with one of 2,084,251

the ends ofzsaidfshaf and integral extensions on said 10 2,585,263

'rotofbetween 'thepfddles and sde"pieees 4'ofv the frame `forming spacers for the paddlesand brakes for the rotor.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Holman Nov. 15, 1870 Aridlauer` Sept. 11, 1923 Haislip June 15, 1937 Miller" Feb. v12, 1952 

